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Topic: tv writer (Read 4724 times)

I just found this thought I would pass it on to you guys if anyone is interested "Hi-

I'm a professional writer of TV and film and I'm working on a new script about a disaffected blue-state urban family that packs up to try their luck at a small town red-state farm. The story is about trying to make the farm work and about immersion into the rural culture. I'd very much like to chat with anyone who can bring some insights and personal experience to this sort of story. If you drop me a line I'll be pleased to call you and I promise not to be a pest. Thanks very much.

Growing up in a rural community I've experienced it the other way around. Taking lunch break on a job site in the big city and the construction workers are discussing the last time they were mugged. Then them refering to a friend who acutally owns a gun because he doesn't want to get mugged. And I'm thinking that on a typical job site in Western Nebraska the guns outnumbered the carpenters at least 2 or 3 to one. Everyone of us had a gun rack with a level, a deer rifle and a shotgun or .22 in it and a .357 or a .44 mag or single action .45 LC in plain sight on the dash. Maybe a very underarmed carpenter would have just the shotgun, or someone like me, who was more into big game might not have the shotgun. :) Of course I had never even MET anyone who had been mugged before nor heard of anyone being mugged anywhere except in movies.

But I do know comments from a friend who's cousin moved to rural Wyoming (like there's anyplace in WY that's not?) to take a job as a State patrolman. He was pretty terrified for the first month seeing all the guns in plain sight. Then one day he pulled over a guy from New Jersey who pulled a pistol on him and was promply backed up by a citizen with a deer rifle. After that he didn't think it was such a bad idea.

Seeing a sign at the bank in Laramie asking you to check your ski masks and pistols with the guard in the lobby before entering the bank is interesting. Being in a resteraunt during Elk season with a lot of people with pistols and hunting knives on their belts and hunter orange on is a bit frightening to the city folk. :)

Going to the store and finding a sign "closed for deer season" was also a common occurance in Laramie.

Also, in Wyoming, hunter eduacation was a required course for all 6th Grade students.

I'd be careful about talking to this guy. Sounds innocent but rarely is.My guess is that the show would end up being just another cheap shot at back-woods, poor, toothless, beekeeping, gun-totin' country rednecks ........ Uhh, like me!

All prosperity begins in the mind and is dependent only upon the full use of our creative imagination.

I do have to agree it is nice to sit out here having coffee in the A.M. no traffic, speed chases, patrol choppers flying over your place spotting a light in your window, bums peeing at bus stops, little wanna be gangs kids with guns (hell I think my opinion is the courts ought to send them out in the country "you wanna carry a gun boy go get dinner" teach the right way) , car jacks, drive bys, rude people , and the stress the now now now life gotta be there hurry hurry everything had to be done yesterday and if they think or have a black out oh my lord I laughted at them even the Hookers got lost at stop lights "how they going to stop now". I use to go to a place for donuts & coffee every a.m. before I walk in at work and it was funny to watch the pimps and hear them talk about that night :lol: ..... I dont miss it all there anymore and glad to be away from all that crazyness. There is a chinese family that moved here and opened a resturant they wanted away from it as well tired of their kids and friends being shot, drugged, etc

& another thing people may like it there in the cities but it has gotten too much out of control when your pizza delivery man gets held up now thats just nuts......Try and take my $$$ from me your walking over but your going back on your back an darn the delivery those folks can cook for a change (pardon my french Beth & other ladies)

We don't live where we did when you left home. Your dad read in the newspaper that most accidents happen within 20 miles from your home, so we moved.

I won't be able to send you the address because the last Arkansas family that lived here took the house numbers when they moved so that they wouldn't have to change their address.

This place is really nice. It even has a washing machine. I'm not sure it works so well though: last week I put a load in and pulled the chain and haven't seen them since.

The weather isn't bad here. It only rained twice last week; the first time for three days and the second time for four days.

About that coat you wanted me to send you, your Uncle Stanley said it would be to heavy to send in the mail with the buttons on, so we cut them off and put them in the pockets.

John locked his keys in the car yesterday. We were really worried because it took him two hours to get me and your father out.

Your sister had a baby this morning; but I haven't found out what it is yet so I don't know if your an aunt or an uncle. The baby looks just like your brother....

Uncle Ted fell in a whiskey vat last week. Some men tried to pull him out, but he fought them off playfully and drowned. We had him cremated and he burned for three days.

Three of your friends went off a bridge in a pick-up truck. Ralph was driving. He rolled down the window and swam to safety. Your other two friends were in back. They drowned because theycouldn't get the tailgate down.

There isn't much more news at this time. Nothing much has happened.

Love, Mom

P.S. I was going to send you some money but the envelope was already sealed.

I was intrigued by your approach, i.e., "blue state goes to red state". It seems so loaded with "agenda". Urban vs. rural is a rich enough ground for so many extremes that I kinda think trying to toss in politics is a missed point that I cannot resist addressing. The main thing I like about my new rural life is that anyone here who publicly espouses any strong political opinions in any direction is considered a pain in the butt. Yes, there are the "War is not the answer" and "Bush must go" posters in some windows, but to MY neighbors, the translation is "I have a tattoo" or "I had a job once, but I didn't like it". That is not saying this is a Dem or GOP place - just that people who put signs in their windows are looking to piss someone off and in a place this small, that means you are a fool.

Where I live is just like most, people like both parties for whatever reason they choose, but to bring it up outside the voting booth is getting a bit pushy and personal. One guy put it best a few weeks ago when he commented that he has a business to run and hanging his politics on his sleeve is just a reason for 50% of the potential friends and clients to write him off as an idiot!

I have found that any random person I pick around here can talk intelligently about politics, but no one commits to one side or the other any more than they are interested in talking about their sex lives. It just isn't done. The whole local machine turns out to beg everyone to vote, but they don't try to ask you to vote a particular way. Basically, the local politicians are not 'well-liked' for their profession and know it plays better at a lower key than all the negative crap you see on a national level.

As an example, my best friend and I talk about all this stuff, but neither one of us has a clue as to the other's actual leanings. I no longer even know what side is red or blue. Work, common sense, neighbors and making tomorrow better for our families - it is a lot more important than how we might vote. Too important to TALK about how we vote and spoil something good between friends and neighbors.

Back in the big city, politics is like perfect english - used to separate people quickly into categories and make the chunks of the masses easier to pidgeonhole and digest. A PHD from Korea can accidentally be labeled as stupid if he has not yet mastered our language. We should look deeper than that stuff.

When I moved here, I was thrilled to find how current and informed everyone was in comparison to back in the city where everyone just picks a side and then eats whatever their respective self-annointed leaders serve up like it came straight from the lips of the Almighty. It is never much of a topic for us to talk about, but it is comforting to know that I live in a place where people make a serious effort to keep track and vote their wishes accordingly.

So, at least where I live, that Red vs Blue thing is not the real punch line to bank on. I thnk maybe the real miracle is just revealing itself: Rural areas are attracting more and more educated and skilled people as a better place to live and work. If you are a high IQ sort, you are going to be naturally attracted to the challenge of playing with nature because she can beat your butt in a nanosecond. You have no control over it except your wits and luck. Instead of fighting the Inbox vs. Outbox War, you can REALLY put it on the line.

When I read your topic intro, my first thought was, "Wasn't Chevy Chase's 'Funny Farm' film pretty much the been there/done that for this subject? Dunno...

I have no idea whether I went from red to blue or vice versa, but I did go from pop. 4 mil to pop. 1200 !!! No one in Houston knows how to cook a woodchuck! No one here WANTS to! But the option is there..... :-) Good luck on your project.